236 Heads Of Families Affected By Floods In Parigi Moutong, Central Sulawesi Need Ready-to-eat Food

Residents of Kayuboko Village, Parigi Moutong Regency, Central Sulawesi, move around their homes which were damaged by the flood (Via ANTARA)

PARIGI MOUTONG - Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Parigi Moutong Regency, Central Sulawesi Province said 236 families affected by the flood in Parigi night needed logistics, especially ready-to-eat food.

"There is an urgent need for affected residents, currently logistics, especially food and other foodstuffs," said Head of Emergency and Logistics of BPBD Parigi Moutong Amiruddin who was contacted from Palu, Antara, Friday, May 20.

The flood that occurred on Thursday, May 19 at around 19:00 WITA submerged three villages in the district. Among them are Hamlets 1 and 4 Olaya Village, Parigi District, Hamlets 2 and 3 Kayuboko Village and Air Panas Village, West Parigi District.

The flood accompanied by mud material was triggered by heavy rains that flushed the area, causing the embankment to burst, resulting in water overflowing to inundate residential areas.

The flow of the Kayuboko and Ari Panas rivers empties into Olaya Village, so the residents of Hamlet 4 villages are also affected.

"From our report, we received that two houses were lightly damaged and one other house was moderately damaged," said Amiruddin.

He said that since Thursday night his party together with the local disaster preparedness cadets (Tagana) and the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) as well as the TNI/Polri have helped evacuate residents to safe places using four-wheeled vehicles.

It is reported that currently approximately eight heavy equipment is normalizing the river to build an emergency embankment, as an effort to anticipate further flooding, because the weather conditions in the area are still cloudy.

"There were no casualties from this incident. The Parigi Moutong Regency Government moved quickly to meet the urgent needs of the residents. A number of residents fled to relatives' houses because their houses were badly damaged," said Amiruddin.

He added that until now the affected residents have started cleaning their houses from the remnants of mud and puddles of water have receded.

"We have also established an emergency post in Olaya Village, and we are also coordinating with the Social Service to establish a public kitchen," said Amiruddin.